


Endeavor

by PhageChildon



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: M/M, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-25
Updated: 2016-06-25
Packaged: 2018-07-18 05:00:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7300531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhageChildon/pseuds/PhageChildon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"If you love me, let me go," Jack whispered as he clenched his excessively bleeding arm tighter as hundreds of undead started closing in on them. "Live, for me..." ~ This is for the 2016 Hijack Week on Tumblr, so it's a short oneshot!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Endeavor

Growls, hisses and garbled noises reverberate off the dilapidated crumbling walls, drowning out the pleading, broken cries of a desperate yet hopeless lover who was reaching down for his boyfriend. His grip was strong against the sturdy rope he had climbed up moments before while the other was reaching out for his only reason to stick around this god-forsaken world. But the straggling white haired male avoided eye contact as he watched dozens, maybe hundreds reaching up for them while some of the undead even started to climb up on others in an attempt to reach them.

“I can’t…” he whispered, clenching his excessively bleeding arm tightly. “I’m a lost cause Hiccup. We both know what happens when a wound like this gets infected!” He cried, clenching it so hard his knuckles turned white, the pain a blessing to his numbing soul.

Urgently the auburnette shook his head, leaning even further out, his body starting to slide off the edge he had climbed up to. “This is different!” He cried, tears brimming his bloodshot eyes. “You’re not like Gobber! You’re younger – you’re stronger than that!”

“Nineteen, forty five – age doesn’t make a difference! In this world it’s kill or be killed, and death has its eyes set on me, nothing can change that-“

“If you actually believe that, then yes!” Quickly Hiccup looked around, being sure no zombies had made it up yet before sliding back down the rope, his thin and skinny arms screaming from the exertion. Not like he cared as he ran up to Jack, ripping part of his shirt off and wrapping it around the wound. Jack struggled but Hiccup held him fast, purposely pressing on the wound to stop his struggling.

“Even if I _did_ go, I can’t even climb the rope like this,” Jack pointed out, pulling his arm free from Hiccup once the wound was wrapped. “They smell my blood,” he mumbled, taking a few steps back.

Both anger and sorrow fueled Hiccup as he dove forward, gently yet firmly holding Jack’s head in his hands. The older male could easily rip himself free if he really wanted, and when he didn’t, it only confirmed the freckled male’s suspicions. Deep down, Jack didn’t want to stay, he wanted to go with him and never leave his side. But that wasn’t an option, not when they were pinned down in this abandoned warehouse with blood drawing hundreds of undead to the facility. After all, they were lovers who would do anything for each other, even sacrifice themselves – and that’s exactly what Jack was trying to do now.

“Look, we’ll figure this out,” Hiccup reassured, gently soothing his thumbs over Jack's pale cheeks. Despite hitting his last growth spurt when he turned eighteen, Hiccup was still slightly shorter than Jack – by a few mere inches – but he was still able to look him in the eyes without looking completely and utterly ridiculous when he was serious. “Because without you, I have nothing,” he choked, biting his bottom lip as he desperately tried to keep the brewing storm at bay. “This isn’t a world I can suffer through alone. Hell we shouldn’t even have to endure it together. But… that’s just the thing,” he whispered, his look softening. “We’re together, and that’s the only place to be; it’s home.”

That spurred something within Jack as he shifted a bit nervously under his gaze, avoiding it as best as he could. When Hiccup spoke like that it was hard to listen to reason – it was hard listening to common sense. His heart flared and beat ferociously with determination to the point where everything seemed possible. But he knew better. This wasn’t something they could stop with “pure love.” He was bleeding, and no matter where they went, the undead would track him down until it stopped.

Painfully he stepped back, ripping himself free of Hiccup’s grip, looking at the ground. “That’s just it… if you love me, you’ll let me go,” he sniffled, meeting those sorrowful forest green eyes that seemed to shatter at his words. It was enough to shatter his heart as he grasped it painfully, stumbling back a bit more, unable to stomach the fact that he hurt his Hiccup. “I don’t want to be one of _them_ ; I don’t want to hurt you,” his voice pitched up a few octaves as he choked on his tears, the damn breaking like the ice the day he lost his family. Without hesitation he reached down and took his gun out, unsteadily resting it against his head. Hiccup’s eyes filled with absolute terror as he inched closer, but the movement only made Jack put his finger on the trigger, forcing the auburnette to stop.

“Don’t move any closer Hiccup, please… just, go up, I don’t want you to see this,” he sniffled, eyes and nose dripping without remorse.

Terror had such a tight grip around his heart Hiccup wasn’t sure _what_ to say. What _could_ he say to stop his boyfriend from making this irreversible mistake? How could he give him hope when there was none left?

“Endeavor,” he suddenly whispered, slowly unsheathing the small and slightly rusted sword. It didn’t look impressive, in fact it resembled its owner – small, tiny, and weak. But the sword, and Hiccup, were quite the opposite. He didn’t need to be physically strong for his mind had all the power he needed. As they say, the pen is mightier than the sword. And it was showing as he laid the sword flat in his palms, looking it over as the fragile memory glittered before his eyes. He knew how to talk Jack down. He didn’t need to use brute force to knock him down and take the gun from him. That was far too dangerous and Jack would finish it before he could even get close.

“You forgot our promise,” he said, slowly looking up at him as his fingers gently caressed the sword before going up to the hilt and popping off the top. Jack’s eyes were wide as his hand shook more, trying to forget, trying to avoid hearing this. But his heart wasn’t letting his finger move while Hiccup pulled out the old parchment from the secret compartment.

Putting the sword back together, he slipped it into its home as he unwrinkled the paper. “I, Jackson Overland Frost, and I, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III vow, upon the very graves of our ancestors, our family, that we will always make an effort, that we’ll always strive to do good for others. And when, if the happenstance occurs where we can no longer help others, we will help each other, for the other is all that we are, and all that we’ll ever be.” Tears welled in Hiccup’s eyes, emotions hitting him like bricks. “We do it for Emma Mary-Katherine Frost, for Jason Night Frost, for Emily Jane Frost, for Vallarama Horrendous Haddock, and for Snotlout Snotface, who sacrificed himself so we may live.” Unconsciously he gripped the trembling paper as he looked up at Jack. They made this pact when Jack’s family died on that ice, and, right after, Snotlout gave his life to take down a bomber at the mall after giving up his grudges and grievances. Those deaths hit them hard, to the point where it seemed like the world they lived in no longer had value. But this agreement, this pact kept them both on their feet, determined to continue what the others couldn’t finish.

Sniffling a few times, he started rolling up the paper, knowing the next words by heart: “It may be a pointless endeavor, but we owe it to them to make the world a better place, just as they would.” Jack’s hand was shaking so bad while his deep blue eyes forced themselves closed as memories broke down his defensive walls.

Slowly he pulled the gun from his head, feeling his heart ache with truth and understanding. Taking this opportunity, Hiccup crept towards him and relieved him of his gun while pulling him into a tight reassuring embrace.

“I-I’m sorry Hiccup,” Jack sniffled, hugging his freckled boyfriend tightly against himself.

“Don’t be,” he muttered into his hair as he pulled back, putting the gun back in Jack’s holster. “Let’s go, Toothless and Camicazi are waiting.”

Hiccup knew it was selfish of him to keep Jack pinned alive in this hell. No one deserved to go through this, not even the worst of the worst. Instead of being relieved from this world, Hiccup pulled him back without hesitation, like a demon would do to an angel. But he couldn’t help it, without Jack he’d do the same exact thing.

He would never let him go, for he loved him far too much... 


End file.
